No Go Zone: European nations are warning companies against investing in the Israeli occupied West Bank or East Jerusalem. Image by getty images

Construction was started on 1,800 new housing units in Jewish settlements in 2015, with some 40 percent outside of the security fence, according to a new report.

Included in the housing starts are 1,547 permanent structures and 253 mobile units, Peace Now said in a report released Sunday. Sixty-three of the buildings were public structures, including synagogues, kindergartens and community centers, and 42 were industrial or agricultural structures.

Fifteen percent of the housing starts, or 265 housing units, were in illegal outposts, according to Peace Now.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

In addition, according to the report, 32 housing units were built on private Palestinian land, almost all of them in illegal outposts. A new illegal outpost also was established, Peace Now reported, located south of the Nofei Prat settlement, located near Maale Adumim.

Meanwhile, despite a declared freeze on tenders for new housing construction, tenders for some 1,143 housing units were published in 2015, 560 in the West Bank and 583 in East Jerusalem, according to the report

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Make your Passover gift today!

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount